Chili cook-off rules to write down, and why each one is there
Most published chili cook-off rules are one-page PDFs from a single town event. I read three of them and kept the rules that come with a number or a reason: the Trussville Parks and Rec rules (2021), the Hillsville, VA Chili Shootout FAQ and the Urbanna chili contest page. Copy what fits your cook-off. How judges score and what to do about ties is on the chili judging page; this page is the rule sheet you hand to the cooks.
Skip the paper sheet: make a phone scorecard in about a minute.
What counts as chili
Define it first, because it decides who can enter. Trussville counts any combination of meats with spices, seasonings, tomatoes, onions, peppers, beans and a liquid such as broth, and accepts vegetarian entries. Hillsville is stricter for its open class: any meat or meat combination cooked with chili peppers and spices, fillers allowed. Pick one sentence, then use categories for the edge cases. Trussville gives vegetarian, unusual and hottest chili their own prizes, so a white chili does not have to compete with a Texas red.
Entry rules and the reason for each
| Rule | Reason |
|---|---|
| Made by the entrant, brought fully cooked | Trussville requires it. Cooking raw meat on site needs a kitchen and takes time, and a hall or office rarely has either. |
| Bring your own heat | Trussville asks for a slow cooker or a chafing dish with fuel. A pot that cools on the table is a food-safety problem and tastes worse than the pot beside it. |
| Serve at 140°F or above | Urbanna asks for chili to arrive hot (140°F or above) or chilled to 40°F or below, then heated to serving temperature on-site. Put 140°F on the sheet and keep a probe thermometer at the check-in table. Check your local health department's rules too. |
| Ingredient card with every pot | Trussville collects a list from each entrant. Guests with a bean, nut or dairy allergy can check it without asking the cook. |
| Register ahead, with a cap | Trussville closes sign-up the day before and may limit entries. A cap keeps the tasting table to a number guests can finish; a guest who tries 12 pots has eaten a bowl of chili. |
| Cooks clean their own spot | Trussville makes every contestant responsible for set-up and clean-up, which keeps the host out of the dish pile. |
| Entry fee (optional) | Hillsville charges $25 per team of up to four people. A fee can cover cups and prizes at a public event; I'd skip it at a family or office party. |
How much chili each cook brings
The three events ask for different amounts. Trussville wants about two gallons per entrant for public tasting. Hillsville wants at least four extra gallons for the public plus one quart for the sequestered judges. Urbanna recommends five gallons per contestant and warns that with under four gallons you can run out and miss People's Choice votes. Those are street-festival numbers.
For a party, work it out from your guest count. A gallon is 128 ounces, so a 2-ounce taste gives 64 samples per gallon and a 3-ounce cup about 43. Ten guests tasting 12 pots is 120 samples, about 10 per pot, so a quart per pot is plenty. Fifty guests tasting 8 pots at 2 ounces is 400 samples, 50 per pot, which is just under a gallon each. Add a margin for people who go back for seconds, and put the number you worked out on the rule sheet.
Judged cup and people's choice are two prizes
Hillsville runs both. Each team turns in one quart to sequestered judges, who score flavor, texture, consistency, blend of spices and color. The People's Choice is decided separately by visitor votes. A visitor buys a wristband and one People's Choice ballot together for $5. For a party:
- One judged cup per cook. A quart is Hillsville's number for the judges. At a small contest, a few ladles into a numbered cup is enough, and someone other than the cook should carry it.
- One vote per guest. Paper ballots and wristbands need someone to count them. With a phone link, each guest rates every pot from 1 to 5 and the ranking appears when you close voting.
- Say which prize is which. Judges and a crowd can pick different pots, and a very hot pot may do better with a judge who tastes it once than with a guest who has tried nine others. Two named prizes avoid an argument about which result counts.
- Keep the prize list short. Trussville awards first to third in four categories (People's Choice, vegetarian, most unusual, hottest), which is 12 prizes. For under 15 pots, one prize per category is enough.
Cups, spoons and bowls
Trussville's staff supply the tasting bowls, spoons and napkins, so cooks only bring chili. Do the same. If each cook brings their own cups, the pots become easy to tell apart. Buy one pack of small cups and one of spoons, and count one of each per guest per pot, plus ten percent. For 20 guests and 8 pots that is 160 cups, 160 spoons and about 16 spare. If you would rather buy fewer, give each guest one cup to keep and a fresh spoon per pot.
Protests and ties
Trussville ends its sheet with "No arguing over results, appeals, or protests will be allowed." Put your tie-break in the same line. Another fall contest with its own rule sheet is the pumpkin carving contest rules. Which tie-break to pick is in the chili tie-break section. Print it before the first pot arrives.
A one-page rule sheet to copy
- Chili is meat or vegetarian, cooked with chili peppers, spices and a liquid. Beans are allowed.
- Cook it yourself and bring it fully cooked in a slow cooker, at 140°F or above.
- Bring [quart or gallon figure from your guest count] and an ingredient card.
- The organizer numbers the pots. Cooks do not serve their own pot.
- One vote per guest. Each pot is rated 1 to 5 on the scorecard link.
- Prizes: People's Choice, plus [your extra categories].
- Ties: [your tie-break]. The result is final.
- Cooks clean up their own spot.
How the phone vote works
Type the entries in the order of their numbers. Guests open one link, see Entry 1, Entry 2 and so on, and rate each from 1 to 5. The ranking appears with the names when you close voting. A paper sheet suits a judging panel, and the link suits a people's choice vote.
Your guests open one link and tap 1 to 5 for each entry. You print a table card with the QR code. Free, no account for you or your guests, deleted after 30 days.
Set up the vote for your chili cook-off. The title is filled in; add the pots in cup order and share the link.
Create a scorecard See a sample contest